Crime spree nets Porsche, Audi and... a flute

A REPEAT offender had been out of jail less than two months before going on a crime spree where he made off with luxury sports cars, clothes and even a flute.

Harley Lee Scrivener, 25, "snubbed his nose at the law" more than 20 times in the two-and-a-half months he wasn't in jail in late 2015.

He had been free from custody for a few days when he started breaking the law again in November 2015.

He stole an iPad from a Fortitude Valley business and later told police he sold it for $20 to buy a train ticket "because times were tough".

Within two months his offending escalated to burglary and violent home invasions where he armed himself with a machete.

Over a two-day period in January 2016, Scrivener targeted four victims, stealing their luxury cars, threatening them with weapons including a machete and a hammer, and stealing their clothes and other items.

Police first spotted Scrivener driving an Audi four-wheel-drive that had earlier been stolen from a house at Moggill on January 30. He later fled with $850 worth property from inside the car.

He told a group of people at a house party he had stolen the car himself before he took a hat and sunglasses from the house and made off to steal a Porsche early the next morning.

It was before 7am on January 31, 2016 when Scrivener took a machete from inside a Moggill home's garage and threatened the family. He told them he was going to kill their son before he demanded cash and the keys to their Porsche and Audi cars.

He could only drive one of the vehicles however so he chose the Porsche and made off to break into a house at nearby Anstead.

The owners of the Anstead home returned from their morning walk to find Scrivener walking towards the Porsche with a container of their stolen property.

He threatened them with a hammer before speeding off with their clothes and a flute.

He parked the car by a hedge at Bellbowrie and broke into a home, stealing keys, a wallet and iPod before taking off in their Volkswagen vehicle.

Scrivener was also caught stealing a Commodore vehicle and spending $78.45 on cigarette products using a bank card he found in the car.

In February 2016 a man woke in his bed at 3am to find Scrivener standing in his bedroom window. He asked the victim for a lighter and when the victim told him no, Scrivener swung a machete about with his arms and head inside the window.

The man surrendered the lighter and police later found Scrivener hiding on the roof of a nearby home.

He was arrested and retuned to jail on the same day.

In sentencing in Ipswich District Court on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Caitlin Thompson said Scrivener had "failed to take advantage of the opportunities the courts had awarded to him".

His defence lawyer, Robert Carroll, said Scrivener "conceded that he needed some structure around him".

Scrivener pleaded guilty to more than 20 offences including burglary, assault and stealing.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren sentenced him to four years and four months behind bars, suspended for a period of five years, with 592 days of pre-sentence custody taken into account as time already served.